I can’t run and I signed up for a 5k

Am I crazy? I signed up for a 5k before I even started training or knowing if I could run without injuring myself. I had severely injured my knees two summers ago when I decided to start running. The extra, extra pounds my body wasn’t used to carrying just crushed my knees and that was that. But I decided that the fact that I’m turning 26 this year and can’t even run 20 seconds without getting winded is just ridiculous and not right. So I signed up for a 5k and then started training. Crazy, right?

Not so much. I am one of those people that starts something and doesn’t finish it. Maybe because it got too hard, or I was sick of it, or I got distracted, or (the most common reason) I thought I wouldn’t succeed and so I quit before giving myself a real chance. So to make sure I couldn’t do that this time, I roped in two of my cousins to join me in the 5k and started publicizing it. I announced it on Facebook and I sent an email to friends and family asking them to donate on my behalf to support me (don’t forget to donate!) Too many people know for me to quit and they even ask me about it (shaming me when I realized I haven’t done enough)!

So even though a lot of people advise to see how your body is adjusting to running before signing up for a race, I say fiddlesticks! There is no better motivator than a shared, public commitment that too many people know about for you to quit or you’ll be embarrassed and ashamed that you failed at something people who are 4 times your age, who have one leg, and who do it in a wheelchair using their arms accomplish every month.

What do you do to stick to your fitness? Any goals you’ve set with an upcoming birthday in mind?